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OZZY OSBOURNE: ‘I Wouldn’t Mind Doing Another BLACK SABBATH Album’

Singer Ozzy Osbourne tells the Toronto Sun in a new interview that he feels satisfied that he's gone full circle with the legendary heavy metal BLACK SABBATH after topping the charts around the world with the group's reunion album, "13". "When we did the album '13', if that was going to be the last album I ever did with BLACK SABBATH, it was okay, because before, in 1978 with 'Never Say Die!', wasn't a good time for me with BLACK SABBATH," he says. "So if we never do another thing together again, we ended on a better note. The only sad thing was that [65-year-old original SABBATH drummer] Bill Ward never played on it." Ward was on board for the reunion when it was first announced in November 2011, but backed out soon after due to contractual issues. SABBATH has used Ozzy's regular touring drummer Tommy Clufetos since then for live work. RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE's Brad Wilk laid down the drum tracks on "13", which came out in June 2013. Osbourne also doesn't rule out the possibility of more new music from SABBATH, telling the Toronto Sun: "Everybody asks me if there's going to be a follow-up to '13'. And all I can say is, 'I never say never anymore.' I don't want to say, 'Yeah, we're never going to do another album,' because if everybody agrees and we don't take 500 years again to make another album, I'm up for it. I wouldn't mind doing another SABBATH album." BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi revealed in January of 2012 that he had been diagnosed with lymphoma, which is described by the Mayo Clinic as "a cancer of the lymphatic system, the body's disease-fighting network." He has had to go back to England every six weeks for treatment, forcing him and SABBATH to work around both the treatments and the recovery time needed afterward. According to Osbourne, Iommi is in good health as far as he knows and playing as strongly as ever. "I haven't had one of them dark phone calls so I presume he's okay," Ozzy tells the Toronto Sun. "He's unbelievable. I mean, any of us could be diagnosed with cancer. I always think cancer means death. I didn't know anybody who'd recovered. My wife recovered from colon cancer and that was the first person I ever knew. But he just accepts it and gets on with it. I mean, it's got to be worrying. But he's doing fine, I think, I hope. He's unbelievable. We all know our job, we all know our craft, but he's a very talented guy. Considering on his fret hand he's got no fingertips, he plays with prosthetic fingers at the end. I've often said to him, 'How the hell do you know when you're touching the strings?' I don't know. It's amazing."

BLACK SABBATH: Belfast Concert Footage Available

Fan-filmed video footage of BLACK SABBATH's December 12 concert at Odyssey Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland can be seen below (courtesy of Rock Radio NI). The band's setlist was as follows: 01. War Pigs 02. Into The Void 03. Under The Sun / Every Day Comes And Goes 04. Snowblind 05. Age Of Reason 06. Black Sabbath 07. Behind The Wall Of Sleep 08. N.I.B. 09. End Of The Beginning 10. Fairies Wear Boots 11. Rat Salad 12. Tommy Clufetos Drum Solo 13. Iron Man 14. God Is Dead? 15. Dirty Women 16. Children Of The Grave Encore: 17. Paranoid According to The Pulse Of Radio, BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi is not sure if making a follow-up to this year's reunion album, "13", would be a good idea for the group. Iommi said in Revolver magazine, "I don't know if that would be an anticlimax if we wrote another album. I'd like to, but we haven't actually spoken about it, you know? I don't know if that would be a good idea after this one, because this one's done so well. I'm sure we'd all like to do one. But I don't know. Maybe I should talk to the others about it." Bassist Geezer Butler added, "I really haven't thought about it. I'm just glad that we made this one. It can't be something where you go in and go, 'Well, that one was No. 1, so let's do another No. 1 album.' I think we'll know if we can do it or if we can't. If we have to force it, then we won't be doing it." "13", the first SABBATH album in 35 years to feature Iommi, Butler and singer Ozzy Osbourne recording together, went No. 1 around the world, earning the band their first chart-topper ever in the U.S. Ozzy said about the prospects of making another record, "I don't want to say there's going to be another album, because I don't want you to ask me in another year, 'What happened when you said you were going to do another record?' I'll leave it open. I'm open for anything. I have three albums to deliver of my own solo thing to my record label." Ozzy added, "We'll all still be doing music. It's been a lot of fun doing it with BLACK SABBATH, and I'm not sorry at all for getting back together." The making of "13" was marked by several dramatic events, including drummer Bill Ward's withdrawal from the project over a contractual dispute and Iommi's cancer diagnosis.

BUTLER: If WARD Played Like He Used To, We’d Have Welcomed Him With Open Arms

Brian McCollum of the Detroit Free Press recently conducted an interview with legendary BLACK SABBATH bassist Geezer Butler. A few excerpts from the chat follow below. On the band's new album,"13", topping sales charts across the globe: Butler: "It's just amazed us. We thought there'd be some interest in it. But never in our wildest dreams would we have expected it to go to No. 1. Around the world, all over the place, it's doing well." On the original BLACK SABBATHlineup being considered the band's most definitive incarnation: Butler: "When you mention it to the average person, they'll knowBLACK SABBATH withOzzy[Osbourne, vocals] in the band. That was our breakthrough (period) in the '70s. People so often associate Ozzy with SABBATH, and SABBATH with Ozzy. It's the same thing with a band like VAN HALEN— people like David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar, but the classic lineup would beDave." On producerRick Rubin's contribution to the new album's success: Butler: "When we tried to do albums in the past, we all had different ideas of what it should be like, and it never ended up being successful. This is what we needed — we needed a producer.Rick Rubinhad always made it known he wanted to be the first-choice producer if we all got back together. "He wanted to go back to the old, basic sort of SABBATH sound — not a lot of overdubs, just a couple of guitar solos. You capture the feeling. With a lot of bands these days — and we have in the past — you'll go put the drums down, the next day you put on the bass, then guitar. It doesn't have the same feeling as being in the room together withOzzysinging. That's how we did the first three albums." On BLACK SABBATH 's current touring drummer Tommy Clufetos, who has previously played withOsbourne,Ted Nugent,Alice CooperandRob Zombie: Butler: "Tommy's a real nice bloke to get on with as well. He's a phenomenal drummer — he picks things up so quickly. It's incredible the way he works. He's really dedicated to the stuff he does." On originalSABBATHdrummerBill Ward's absence from the"13"recording sessions and current tour: